Deadly Obsession by Karen M. Davis

Publisher's Synopsis

A young nurse’s body is found at Clovelly Beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Apart from a puncture wound in her neck, she is in perfect condition. But she’s also clutching a rose in her hands – and there’s an empty packet of prescription drugs in her pocket.

Investigating the scene, Detective Lexie Rogers and her partner Brad Sommers know something is not right. It appears to be a staged suicide. And as they begin to dig deeper, Lexie discovers the case is too close to home.

The dead girl was a work colleague of Lexie’s ex-husband, who is now a paramedic – and she was also a friend of the woman who broke up Lexie’s marriage. Struggling as she is with her breakup with Josh Harrison, who pushed her away after the suicide of his sister, and the numbing flashbacks of the violent attacks she’s suffered in the past, Lexie throws herself into the case. When she’s handed the lead on the investigation, Lexie sets out to solve the murder and prove she’s up to the job.

When Lexie’s ex-husband becomes a suspect, she refuses to believe it. It also becomes startlingly clear there are similarities in the deaths of Josh’s sister and the murder victim. But when Lexie determines a link between the women and a doctor working at the same hospital, he becomes her main suspect, fuelled by her discovery of a prescription drug racket.

Just when Lexie is beginning to make headway on the case, Josh turns up. He’s determined to find out what happened to his sister – and he also wants Lexie back.

Piecing together the identity of the killer with the help of her old bikie friend, Rex Donaldson, Lexie and her colleagues set a trap in an ambitious police operation. But there’s a big difference between naming a suspect and catching a killer, and Lexie’s about to find out just how deep some grudges can go.

My Review of Deadly Obsession by Karen M. Davis

Deadly Obsession is the second book in the Lexie Rogers series featuring the Detective Constable working out of the Bondi Junction station in Sydney. Lexie is a highly capable cop but she’s still trying to overcome the PTSD from when she was attacked years ago working in Kings Cross. 

If you are planning on ever reading the first book in the series, Sinister Intent, and were thinking of reading this one beforehand, stop and rethink that plan immediately. Deadly Obsession is filled with spoilers about the first book in the series and, quite simply, there’s no point going back and reading the first if you’ve already read the second. The thing is, if you’ve already read the first book, you don’t need the extended explanation of every detail that took place in that book and, if you haven’t read it, too bad, every surprise has just been laid out for you. Shorthand version of what I just said: read the books in order.

This second book in the series picks up around 6 months after the events of Sinister Intent and Lexie is out on the streets accompanied once again by her original partner Brad Summers. They’re called out to investigate a body that has been found at Clovelly Beach. It’s a young woman who appears to have been dumped and rolled down the grassy bank. She’s clearly been posed to look as though she’s asleep and she’s holding a red rose in her hands. Her death was put down as an overdose of Oxycontin and she has a needle mark in her neck.

As the investigation gets underway, we learn that Lexie’s love interest, Josh Harrison has taken off for Bali after the suicide death of his sister, Jenna. Lexie is dealing with the abandonment as best she can, i.e. poorly, but understands that Josh is hurting after losing a loved one. Details of Jenna’s death start to be revealed and, coincidence alert, she was found overdosed on Oxycontin with a needle mark in her neck.

Lexie (reasonably) is convinced there’s a connection between the two cases due to the numerous similarities. Infuriatingly, her partner Brad can’t see it and refuses to entertain the thought that she might be right. Now, as far as I was concerned, blind Freddie could see that, at the very least, this was a line that should have been pursued and probably with some urgency. It’s only when a third case is discovered that the lead is followed and, hence, the pace of the story picks up considerably.

Running in parallel is an undercover operation being conducted by Rex Donaldson. This is a guy who made his appearance in Sinister Intent and the huge man returns to play a more peripheral role here. Rex makes contact with Lexie to pass on information about a possible drug deal he’s witnessed. Coincidentally, the photos he took could potentially be linked to Lexie’s case.

A murder case and a drug case all rolled into one ensures that things kick into high gear. For Lexie she also finds that she also has to juggle a complicated romantic situation. It’s all go, go, go in the Bondi Junction CIB.

Something that struck me while reading this was the fact that just about everyone involved in the case - suspects, victims, friends of victims - appeared to be related in some way to Lexie. In a city of over 5 million people, the only people who came under scrutiny were already known by the investigating officer. The coincidence fairy was working overtime to a distracting degree right up to and including one of the big surprise twists towards the end.

Deadly Obsession is a solid thriller that has once again put Lexie Rogers through the emotional wringer. There’s clearly unfinished business to take care of by story’s end and there’s enough here to lead me to the third book in the series.